Gigapixel XXL panorama – Aerial photo over Hjo, Vättern, Sweden

What is a gigapixel image?

A gigapixel image is a digital image bitmap composed of one billion (109) pixels (picture elements), 1000 times the information captured by a 1-megapixel digital camera. A square image of 32,768 (215) pixels in width and height is one gigapixel. Current technology for creating such very high-resolution images usually involves either making mosaics of a large number of high-resolution digital photographs or using a film negative as large as 12″ × 9″ (30 cm × 23 cm) up to 18″ × 9″ (46 cm × 23 cm), which is then scanned with a high-end large-format film scanner with at least 3000 dpi resolution. Only a few cameras are capable of creating a gigapixel image in a single sweep of a scene, such as the Pan-STARRS PS1 and the Gigapxl Camera.